White Pheonix
by AngelUriel
Summary: Dumbledore looks back on his life and realises he has many regrets but many more triumphs. This is his story, retold by him. The story has HBP spoilers. The rating may change, but so far, it's pretty alright.
1. Chapter 1

I love Dumbledore...not in the freaky fangirl sense, but in the way people like Jack Sparrow for his charisma (I love Jack Sporrow in the fangirl sense, but that's another story :) ) Anywho, I was doing my other story on Snape's history (Venomous Poison)and I thought, "hey, what about Dumbledore? I bet he has an awesome backstory...he is over 150 years old after all." So I decided to do a piece of Dumbledore retelling his own story (And I found I really like writing in the first person). Throughout the piece, I'll probably slip in a few of my own theories, It's inevitable. But I aim to deliver a good piece of fanfic writing.

All recognisable characters and placesbelong to JKR, the rest belong to me :)

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_I stand facing the young boy…no, Draco is a man now…on top of the Astronomy Tower, the place where I would often look at the stars in my own time, where I first met my love, where I first realised my goal. But now, the poison that Voldemort had made was coursing through my veins and I knew I was going to die, whether or not Severus found his way up here in time. Poor Severus, to play the part of Judas in order to both betray us and to lead us to a higher understanding._

_Here he is now, so full of self-loathing. I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you to be brave, not to worry. I wish I could tell Harry all that I know and comfort him. I wish…I didn't have so many regrets. I wish…I told those I loved that I love them; those that I cared about I care; those that were afraid, not to be afraid…like poor Tom Riddle._

"_Severus, Please." You know what to do. Kill me, I am dying anyway. But I didn't plan it to be so soon. I am not afraid of death. I'm not afraid of the unknown. Oh Tom, poor Tom. Poor Harry. How did we end up in this mess…?_

My name is Albus Percival Wulfric BrianDumbledore; but, call me Albie. That's been my nickname for well over a century. I was born at the beginning of summer in the year 1841 to Arthur Charles Odin Dumbledore and Josephine Moira Hobbs.

I can remember much of my childhood, my youth and of course my later years, having an extraordinary memory and all; and I will tell everything that I can.

My earliest memory is of my mother. She was a beautiful young witch who became a grand old dame. With rich red hair, beautiful blue eyes and extraordinary wit and peace of mind, I am proud to say I take most after her. My younger brother Bertie takes mostly after my father: impulsive, rash and exceedingly sour-tempered, but with a sharp mind and clear reasoning.

Our house was small in size, but richly furnished and on the edge of an enchanted wood, one of the last kinds in Europe. Bertie and I would often play near the edge, but Mother would always warn us never to go inside. There was also a village nearby, a small Muggle village, and Bertie and I would go to school there. Father told us never to talk about wands or any magic, which suited us just fine, Muggles never believed young boys like us and thought we just had a rich imagination.

The teacher at the school loved me, and thought I would go far in life, perhaps even being the Prime Minister of the country (funny how some things never change)…she never saw Bertie, he was always out fishing, boxing, hanging around the local pub and being a real scallywag. I never told Mother or Father about his wanderings, he was much taller and stronger than I was and would easily win an argument with his fist. I suppose he could read and write a little, he managed to pass his exams at Hogwarts until he was about fifteen; he had dropped out by that stage.

I suppose my early childhood was idyllic, but life got a little more interesting when I was around seven years old. It began when Bertie and I were looking for tadpoles in the nearby creek, he was about five at the time, but tall and strong for his age. The sun was hot and I was splashing my face with water to cool me down when I look through the trees towards the enchanted forest. Standing there was a beautiful chestnut female centaur. She looked at us with intelligent eyes and disappeared into the woods. I was amazed.

"Bertie! Bertie! Did you see that? There is a centaur in the woods!" I pulled on his sleeve, nearly making him tumble into the water. He looked where I was pointing.

"I don't see nuffink, Albie. You're seeing things." He thrust his hands defiantly in his pockets. I looked back to the forest again and the trees swayed silently, nothing to be seen. I shrugged and filled my pockets full with frog spawn.

Later that night, we were having dinner and Bertie piped up to Mother, "Mum, Albie thinks he saw a centaur today in the forest!" he laughed. Father raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't go into the forest, did you Albus?" He asked, wiping his mouth under his moustache with a cloth.

"No, sir," I always called him sir, even when I was very little, "we were along the creek and she came out and looked at us, then went back in." I retold, he nodded and said

"Don't go into the forest, centaurs don't like humans: Muggle or Wizard." He warned and went back to eating. The topic did come back to the table, but more serious in nature and catalysed many later events.

But the warning did not dampen my curiosity of the creatures, indeed, it filled me with more desire to learn about them, to know their ways and how they lived. It took to my father's library like a fish to water and began to learn. In a few weeks I had learnt about many of the centaurs' characteristics and customs, but the desire to speak with them in person nearly sent me mad. So one night, I made up my mind to go into the forest the next day, a Friday.

I passed half the school day fidgeting and sweating enough that made my teacher to think that I had a fever. She sent me home early, which was a stroke of luck; because my parents would think I was at school. I pretty much ran to the edge of the forest.

As I stood there, at the very edge, I felt calm wash over me, as if it was as natural as stepping into my own home. I walked in, unafraid. My mother later remarked that I was either very brave or very stupid to go into the forest alone and unarmed. At the time I chose to think I was very brave, but now I look back on it and think I must've been very stupid, if things didn't turn out the way they did.

I stepped in, exploring every tree and leaving upright sticks to mark my path as I went through. The forest was very old and very beautiful. It was the beginning of summer, so everything was green and bright. Soon enough I came to the largest tree I had ever seen. Even to this day, I still think it is the best tree in the world. Its roots and trunk were knotted and whorled, with places to hide and clamber over and the branches were easy to reach and climbed up for what seemed like miles. I loved high places, so I scrambled up the tree like a squirrel. I found bowtruckles and puffskeins and little red fairies. I dared not touch them; otherwise they'd be angry at me.

When I first met Romani, I was practising my gymnastics, swinging on the branches. I was pretty agile and clambered down branches then swung upside down, when I was upside-down I was confronted with a right-way-up centaur. I was so surprised, I let out a cry and fell to the ground with a clunk. I wasn't hurt, but I was very shocked.

Romani was only a colt, about my age, with amber eyes and a honey coloured coat. He was more amused than shocked and when I got up shakily with my legs, he began to laugh.

"How can you stand up with only two skinny little legs?" He laughed, pointing at my legs and showing his horsy teeth.

"I am what I am." Was the only thing I could say. He merely smiled at me.

"Are you a Muggle or a Wizard?" he asked me.

"A wizard." I replied.

"Oh good, that means I don't have to tell Father." He sighed, relieved, "Father usually has to kill Muggles who see us. But you will have to leave soon; we don't like humans in general."

"Why not?" I asked innocently. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Mother says that you are too ignorant, arrogant and stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" I said defiantly and angrily. I still hate being called stupid.

"Alright then, prove it to me and I won't call for my father." He pawed the ground, ready for action. I thought for a bit, trying to recall a bit of centaur law and then looked at his necklace. It was a river stone with a natural hole in the middle where the string when through.

"That necklace you have there is a protection amulet for young foals, colts and fillies. The best ones are to be found in the Autumn, when the moon is full, so that the ancient magic is at its highest." I recited. Romani opened his mouth in awe.

"Nyah!" He said in a way of centaur amazement, "you're not stupid or ignorant after all."

"No, I'm not." I had said proudly, puffing out my chest.

"Arrogant though. What's your name wizard?" He asked.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, but everyone calls me Albie." I said, holding out my hand ready to shake. He looked at it oddly and banged his chest and bowed.

"I am Romani…everyone else calls me Romani." He smiled. With introductions out of the way, he asked me, "Hey, do you want to play?"

Being an active seven-year-old I jumped enthusiastically at the invitation, "Yeah!"

"Alright, let's play Find and Catch!" I soon learnt it was a combination of Hide-and-Seek and Tag. I can say it was fun those two hours. Being part horse, Romani was easy to find but difficult to catch. I was hard to find, but easy to catch, provided I didn't climb into the tree. I was just caught by Romani when suddenly my feet lifted from the earth and I was being dangled by a huge dapple-grey stallion. Both his eyes and teeth were yellow and he was scary. It was Romani's father Jaspere and later I found out he was the leader of the herd.

He was very strong and very angry. One looked from him made Romani slink behind the tree, terrified. He held me out at arms length, looking me up and down, "A Dumbledore, eh?" He snorted. I think my father's side of the family must've been in this forest many times, I actually never asked my father for the details.

"U-uh, hel-l-lo s-sir." I gathered all the courage I could muster and smiled weakly. He snorted again, unimpressed. He rolled his eyes and with me still at arms length, he trotted to the edge of the forest and threw me out as if I was an annoying house cat. Now that I look back on it, they were very lenient on me…in fact, had that herd been Bane's from the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, I would have been let go very hurt and very humiliated.

"Don't come back, we dislike unwanted visitors." Jaspere warned and trotted off. Romani was at the edge of the forest, pawing the ground undecidedly. His father called for him in a bellowing voice, and after a salute goodbye he disappeared. Sighing despondently, I walked back to the home, both sullen and elated. Sullen because I was kicked out, and elated because I had met a real-life centaur. I looked at the sun and nearly cursed myself, I was really late! I had to think of a good alibi, because my mother would be worrying about me. I walked up the stairs, the sense of doom hung over me. I walked through the door and immediately my mother appeared.

"ALBIE! Where have you been? Do you know how worried we were? We were about to call a search party! It's so unlike you to be home so late!" And she smothered me with a million hugs and kisses. Ah, I thought, the prodigal son has returned.

"I was exploring, mum. I was having so much fun I didn't know what time it was." I said smoothly, the truth, but not quite.

"Oh, I'm so relieved," she said, "But where's your coat, Albie? The nice one we just got?" She asked. Up until that point, I had never felt fear seemingly pour down my back like ice.

"Oh, darn it! I must've left it in my secret hiding place." I exclaimed, "I guess I'll have to get it tomorrow." I traced back into my thoughts. I had left my coat in the tree when I was climbing up it. I guess I'll have to sneak back into the forest the next day. Mother scolded me and let it drop. Everything was well until dinner time.

Father came home from work and talked with my mother. Sunny, our house elf had laid dinner on the table when father and mother came in, their faces blank. We said thanks and began to eat as normal. My father was opening the elf made wine when he asked me, smiling:

"Hey, Albie, guess who I met on the way home from work today?"

"Ummm, the Minister of Magic?" I hummed.

"No, guess again." He poured a glass of the wine.

"The Seeker of the Ballycastle Bats?"I guessed again.

"No, your teacher, Mrs Granger," my heart stopped for a second, "she told me she had sent you home early because you looked so unwell and sent the message for you to get well soon. Imagine my surprise when I found you came home so late." He chuckled to himself. I don't think the colour could've rushed from my face any faster if I had tried, "where were you today Albie?"

My heart jumped into my throat, my father would kill me if he had known if I went into the woods that day, "I went exploring." I stuttered.

"I can see that that, but I didn't asked what you did, I asked where you went." He said, a little more clearly, a little more controlled.

"Near the creek." I said. He looked at me in the eye, and even I didn't know about Legimens at the time, I knew that he knew where I was.

"Tell me the precise location."

"Uh-uuhh," I stammered. He shoved his chair backwards, his moustache quivered like it did when he was angry. He grabbed me by the ear, much the protestation of my mother.

"You went into the forest, didn't you! Against my explicit warnings!" He shouted. My ear hurt so much and he was so angry I began to cry.

"Y-Yess s-sir." I blubbed. He let go of my ear and grabbed my wrist instead.

"If you like it so much in there, you can sleep the night in there!" and he pulled me to the door. I yelled and tried to pull away, but he was so massively strong that I would never had the chance.

"Arthur!" my mother was so shocked, that this was the first time I had seen her rise her voice at my father in livid anger.

"Don't interfere, Jo'! This is my education to him to never lie!" and he slammed the door on his way out. He Side-Along Apparated me to the edge of the forest, an uncomfortable experience I never wanted to experience again. He threw me into the woods just as Jaspere had thrown me out earlier and flicked out his wand. He said an enchantment and as I tried to run out, I slammed into an invisible force field.

"I'll be back in the morning to lift the enchantment. Goodbye." He growled and Disapprated. I slammed against the wall, screaming for my mother. After several minutes, it seemed that nobody was coming back. I walked along the wall and found it circled the entire forest, even though I could see birds and badgers pass through it easily. Soon, total darkness set in and I heard noises that still chill me to the bone. I remembered the old tree from earlier and thinking it would be the safest place for me, I plunged headlong into the suffocating darkness.

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Mweeeeeeee, so cute To Be Continued. 


	2. Chapter 2

To clear up a mistake in the first chapter, Dumbledore was born on the year 1844 not 1841 (it was a typo, the keys are right next to each other :D ). Yeah, it was slow in the making, but I wrote this and nearly finished it when exams came around, therefore postponed it, then I was on holiday with no story what-so-ever. Anywho...

all recognisable characters, locations etc belong to JKR. Everything else belongs to me.

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In the forest, I tripped and stumbled over roots, branches whipped my skin and clothes and all the time I was crying and blubbering. Miraculously I had reached the old tree I was playing around with Romani earlier that day. Fairies flitted about the tree, giving me some source of light when previously I had none. I found my coat next to the trunk. I huddled inside it, curling myself as tightly as I could to the confines of the roots. If I had any sense back then, I would've climbed up the tree and slept there for the night, but it didn't occur to me at the time. 

I snuffled and sniffed for a little while until the fairies distracted me from my punishment. There were many different colours of the fairies and I had the best notion of the time to collect each colour of the rainbow as an "I'm Sorry" present. So, I got to work and managing to grab red, yellow and blue fairies before I spotted a pretty orange one in the distance. It was a few metres when I realised the orange fairy was not exactly a fairy. It was a camp fire, a pretty large one too.

Against common sense, I crept really low to the ground, not making a sound, and headed towards the source. I'm surprised that the sentinels of the camp didn't spot me, but I got as near to the clearing as possible.

The clearing was wide and clean, with a fire crackling in the middle. Centaur family groups huddled together talking and some sleeping. It was a clear night so many of the elder Centaurs were star gazing and talking anxiously, while a group of young foals were being taught about the basics of the stars. I remember a few things on what the elders were talking about:

"Mars is directly overhead tonight, should we put more guards out on the perimeter tonight?" A roan stallion said, his brows knotting close together. A painted mare shook her head.

"Orion is protecting Sagittarius, if we are attacked, nobody will be seriously hurt or killed." She informed, pointing out the individual constellations. I knew nothing about the stars then, only that they were bright, pretty and there were many of them. Ignoring this conversation, I inched towards the small group of foals and yearlings where I saw Romani. They didn't have their eyes on the earth at all, but were craning back to look at some planets and star groups. I listened to their teacher, lying on my back and looking at the stars and their meanings as she pointed them out. Their teacher happened to be the first Centaur I saw, the beautiful chestnut mare. Now, Centaurs as a rule, do not wear clothes on their upper bodies (sometimes they wear furs in winter or flowers on festivals but not all the time), so I was as deeply interested in her chest as I was in the stars. My study of them (the stars) was distracted when I heard a clip-clopping of hooves in the trees nearby.

I shrunk away into the hollow of a log as they passed and luckily no one saw me. From where I was, I could only see just a sliver of light and some of the sky, but I could hear everything. Suddenly there was an uproar of voices and whinnying and much galloping of hooves. The light of the fire was stamped out and the galloping of hooves disappeared into the trees. When all I heard was total silence, I edged out of my hiding place and looked at the devastation around me. The camp was turned upside down and hoof prints everywhere, some of them were so big, I could fit into them if I curled up.

I began to panic when I thought of Romani and the chestnut mare being hurt, and dashed off back into the forest to the old tree. As I reached the tree, I heard voices behind me. I wasted no time clambering up into the branches. As I was hiding myself, three figures appeared below, one very small and two others huge. I peered down into the gloom, afraid of what I might see. What I saw was Romani cornered by two stallions built like draught horses.

"Come along, little prince, we wont hurt you." One of them said, twanging a tune on his bowstring. Romani was terrified with only a tiny knife to defend himself with.

"Yeah, we just want to play _nya-nya_." The other said, advancing on the colt. I couldn't take it any more, I grabbed the nearest thing to me (a puffskein, ho-ho) and threw it with all my might at the advancing stallion. He cried out in shock and twisted his torso around to see where the shot came from.

"It came from the tree, Gragorn." The other said and aimed an arrow at me. Well, it was dark, so the centaur was only aiming in my general direction, but if it was in full daylight, I would not be telling this story right now. The arrow sang past me, but it was too close for comfort. The next thing I grabbed was a large stick, caught in the tree branches. I weighed it in my hands and found it quite heavy. Gargorn was trotting closer to the tree trunk and was almost directly under me, what happened next, I can't remember exactly, but I'll tell you what I know.

Somehow, I jumped out of the tree brandishing my stick and landed on the back of Gragorn. I suppose he wasn't expecting that and I had enough wits about me to smash the stick into the back of his head. He dropped like a bag of sand, me with him. I rolled down some roots and crouched on my feet.

"Why, you filthy human!" The other centaur roared with rage and strung his bow. I must admit, I don't know why I survived this encounter, but I think it due to my quick thinking. I reached into my pocket with the fairies in and threw them into his face. As he was briefly distracted by the bright lights, Romani dashed behind the stallion and cut his sinews with his little knife. The centaur fell down with a roar and loosed his arrow at me. I ran forward and with a mighty crack, I brought down my stick onto his head. He slumped to the ground and nothing could be heard by the big tree but our heavy breathing.

Romani looked at his hands, which had some blood on them. He wiped them on his hide and them looked at me and gasped.

"Albie! You're bleeding!" He pointed at my arm. The centaur's arrow had grazed me on the shoulder and blood was pouring down. I had not noticed it in the excitement, but now I felt a deep painful throb. Romani rushed forward and ripped off a sleeve from my shirt, artfully binding the wound.

"Ow." I moaned as he pulled away.

"What are you doing here, Albie?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh…urr, I got in trouble with my father for going into the forest today. He chucked me into the forest for the night. I can't get back out." I said bashfully. Romani shook his head.

"Your father is stupid, making you spend the night in here. Those two would've killed you if they found you. Anyway, I'm also grateful that he did so…I may not be alive if you weren't here." And he bowed. This is the first Wizards debt that I had ever held. I was quite proud.

"No need to thank me. Who are they?" I nodded at the motionless couple.

"They're from a neighbouring clan…they hate us and are going to take over this piece of land. That's all I know. I just wish I knew where mother is." And he began to cry.

"Don't cry, Romani. I heard from the elders that nobody was going to be hurt tonight." I assured him. He looked at me sharply.

"You heard the elders?" he asked, frowning. I think I could've done something very offensive to his customs, but didn't know at the time.

"I saw a fire when I was chucked in here…I walked to it and found your clan and heard them by accident. I'm very sorry if I did something bad." I stuttered. Romani sighed.

"It's alright. Normally, if I heard the elders talking about something like that, I would be severely punished. You would be killed. But, at least I know my clan is safe."

"We should go look for your clan," I said, "And find a way to rescue them, if we can." Romani nodded and we trotted off in the general direction of his camp. As we drew near, we heard voices and activity. I motioned to my companion to be silent and I crept forward by myself to the edge of the clearing like earlier. Romani's clan were in a group, bound and gagged. A group of about nine stood around guarding the group; it seemed like all the attackers were in one place. I had an idea and crawled back unnoticed to where Romani was hiding.

"Your clan is all safe," I said very quietly, "Do you want to help?"

"I'll do anything to save my family." He responded.

"Alright. Here's my plan." I whispered, "How fast can you run?"

"I'm the fastest in my clan."

"Good…now, I want you to lead the attackers away from the camp. I have a feeling they may want you alive, so don't be worried about arrows. And, I'll need your knife."

"What for?"

"I'll be making some traps which you will need to remember to dodge." I replied. He got the idea and we set to work. Later, close to midnight, we had finished without being noticed. We had several traps in all: five trip ropes made of ivy, two pitfalls Romani had found and a Whomping Willow. The willow was the best find and it was all well that it was in the bottom of a hollow of loose rock, it was fine for me to get out but it was hard for centaurs as the hooves sink in easily. We drew near to the camp and we looked at each other.

"Ready, Romani?" I asked the colt.

"Ready when you are." He said. I nodded and he walked forward to the clearing. I could see him perfectly from where I was hidden. He was spotted by the invaders and a shout went up, he waggled his fingers under his chin, which he later told me was a very rude sign amongst centaurs. Romani then ran away with most of the centaurs in hot pursuit. As he drew near to me, I braced myself for action. He jumped over the limp trip line and I pulled it taut. It was a good thing I hooked it around a tree branch, otherwise the weight of the centaurs would've severely hurt me. Three centaurs went down, their legs broken.

As I look back now, I still don't quite understand how those ivy ropes didn't break. In fact, I can't remember, for the life of me, how we set it up so quickly. I must've been using some unconscious magic, or luck was on our side. With the first trap done, I hurried to the next one. Romani made his route in such a way that I could easily get to the next trap before him. All was going well, with the pitfalls being the most useful, until the second to last trip rope. The branch I had hooked around the ivy rope snapped as a centaur rode through it and with a second snap, I felt my uninjured arm break.

I dared not scream in case of being found out, so I bit my lip so hard, my teeth came together. I was faint but the only thing I thought of was getting to the next trap, as Romani was getting tired and had a few close calls. I staggered to the trap, but my timing was off and missed the group of five pursuing centaurs. I hoped to Merlin that the willow would finish them off.

By the time I got to the willow, it was in full battle mode with all five centaurs. Romani was in a tight spot, even though lighter than the others, he too had sunk into the gravel. He was assailed from all sides by the willow. I ran, clutching my arm to the edge of the hollow and was immediately hit by a whip-like branch. I hurt, that I can remember, but I trudged on anyway. I reached Romani looking very like the Bloody Baron in all his glory; lip, arm, forehead, legs and scalp bleeding, not to mention my broken arm. I extended my bleeding arm out and pulled him out of the hollow.

We were the walking victorious wounded; we had reduced thirteen centaur warriors into piles of twisted, broken anthromorphs. But we were exhausted and found it hard to walk back to the camp. You could imagine our disappointment when we saw three more centaurs guarding the prisoners. I slipped around the perimeter as Romani went to grab a bow and a quiver of arrows from one of the fallen centaurs. He returned with a fresh scratch across his chest.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"I didn't know that stallion wasn't unconscious." He replied, "I got this away though." He held up the weapons. He slid out an arrow from his quiver and aimed his bow for the largest centaur stallion. He loosed it and it went straight into his chest. He fell like a stone. The stallion's companions looked at him in wonder, then alarm. But before they could respond, Romani had plugged in five more arrows in varying places amongst the other three centaurs. Romani dashed from the cover of the trees and raced forward to free his clan. His family shouted in joy at his return and sprang up when he released them, cutting their bonds with his little knife.

It's unfortunate that the loss of blood, the pain and excitement all suddenly took its toll on my body and I fainted. When I came too, I was looking at a pale dawn, surrounded by warm fires. I wondered how I got there, when I saw Romani snoozing beside me, his wounds dressed and his honey gold hair spilling over his shoulders onto the ground. My arm was in a splint and several cuts, including my lip had been stitched with horsehair. I felt so sore that I began to cry. I stopped when I heard a soothing voice nearby.

"Hush, little foal, it's alright." She said. She being the beautiful chestnut mare I had seen earlier.

"It hurts." I whimpered.

"Here, drink this." She said and handed me an earthenware cup. It was a beautiful cup, very much in the style of ancient Greece. I drank and felt much better for it, "Jaspere, come here, the human's awake." She called softly. I tensed as I saw the huge figure of Jaspere.

"I won't hurt you," he said in a tone I had not heard earlier, "but I do want to thank you. On behalf of my clan, we deeply thank you and owe you for what you have done." He bowed so deeply, I thought he was about to fall over.

"N-No need to thank me. It was all thanks to Romani. I couldn't have done without him." I stuttered.

"My son wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I owe you more here than anyone else."

"You're Romani's father?" I asked.

"Yes, and Philomena over there is his mother." He pointed to the chestnut. She smiled and blushed, "We will do whatever you want."

I thought over this carefully and answered, "Can I please go into the forest when I want and can I be taught like a centaur child? Can I also please stay friends with Romani?" I asked eagerly. Now when I look back, I had almost asked for too much; but a centaur's oath is a loyal oath.

"I think you have already earned the right to stay friends with Romani," He laughed then frowned seriously, "but being taught by a centaur is a very big ask; very few humans have been taught by centaurs."

"Men like Jason and the other Greek heroes right?"

"Right. But I must ask you to never, ever repeat the secrets that we taught you. Will you promise us that?" He looked at me with such seriousness, I am still chilled to think what might've happened if I did break the promise.

"I promise." I said in utter seriousness. He took my word for it and nodded, "Sir?" I asked again, "I have one more favour to ask of you; can you please hit my father? I'm not very happy with him, but my hitting arm is broken."

"Don't worry," Jaspere laughed, "I was planning to do that anyway."

Jaspere kept his promise. I was paraded out of the forest like some hero, and I saw father waiting where he had left me sporting a black eye already; apparently mother had already had a go at him. Father's face drained of blood when he saw me all wounded and stitched up. I wasn't happy with him, so I stood obediently beside Jaspere as he advanced upon father.

"Sire of Albus Dumbledore, I hope you are proud having such a fine colt, but," THWACK, my father was hit squarely in the left eye, "never ever throw away your son's safety on a whim ever again." Father reeled back, clutching his head in agony. Jaspere turned to me and bowed, "we'll be looking forward to your contributions in our classes." And he trotted back into the woods, with Romani waving wildly behind him. When they disappeared I turned to Father and stuck out my tongue. He said nothing, but grudgingly took me back home.

Mother really did have a go at him this time round, seeing how wounded her first born son was. But my adventures did not stop there, oh no, they'd only just begun.

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TBC... 


End file.
